Dental team member in mask, face shield and gloves beside a masked patient, with hand sanitizer and tissues on the counter, under the heading Flu Season Reminder: Protecting Your Dental Team and Patients

Flu Season Reminder: Protecting Your Dental Team and Patients

October 5, 2026
OSHA Review
California Dental Regulation, Dental Bytes, Dental Infection Control, OSHA Dental Compliance

As flu season approaches, dental practices should review their procedures for protecting patients and dental healthcare personnel (DHCP). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a multi-layered approach that includes vaccination, respiratory hygiene, appropriate management of ill personnel, infection control precautions, and environmental controls.

This post is part of our Dental Bytes eNewsletter 2026 hub, where you can access each monthly issue.

Encourage Annual Flu Vaccination

CDC recommends annual influenza vaccination as the most important measure for preventing seasonal flu. Dental practices should encourage all DHCP to receive the annual vaccine and make vaccination as accessible as possible. High vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel helps reduce transmission to patients and coworkers.

Reduce Exposure to Respiratory Illness

Dental practices should have procedures for identifying/screening patients with respiratory symptoms when appointments are scheduled and when patients arrive.

During periods of increased flu activity:

Encourage patients with respiratory symptoms to notify the office.
Provide masks and hand hygiene supplies.
Promote respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette.
Separate symptomatic patients from others when possible.
Consider postponing non-urgent treatment for patients with suspected or confirmed influenza when appropriate.

Note for California dental practices: Practices in California should also remember that Cal/OSHA’s Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard, 8 CCR §5199, requires an outpatient dental practice seeking the standard’s conditional exemption to have a written procedure for screening patients for ATDs before dental treatment and to train employees on that procedure. The screening procedure must be consistent with current CDC infection-control guidelines for dental settings.

Keep Sick Employees Home

DHCP who develop fever and respiratory symptoms should not report to work. If symptoms develop at work, the employee should stop patient care activities, put on a facemask, and notify a supervisor. CDC recommends staying home until at least 24 hours after the fever has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medication.

Personnel with respiratory symptoms but no fever may still have influenza. If they return to patient care while coughing or sneezing, CDC recommends wearing a facemask during patient care activities and practicing frequent hand hygiene. Flexible, non-punitive sick leave policies can help prevent employees from working while infectious.

Continue Routine Infection Control

Standard precautions apply to every patient, including appropriate hand hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE) based on the anticipated exposure. Dental practices should continue routine cleaning and disinfection of frequently touched surfaces. CDC indicates that standard cleaning and disinfection procedures are adequate for environmental surfaces contaminated with influenza virus. Practices should also ensure that ventilation and other engineering controls are functioning properly.

The Bottom Line

Flu prevention requires several measures working together: annual vaccination, respiratory hygiene, patient screening and separation, appropriate sick-leave policies, standard precautions, hand hygiene, and environmental cleaning. Reviewing these procedures before flu activity increases can help protect both your dental team and your patients.

Related OSHA Review Resources

About OSHA Review, Inc.

Since 1992, OSHA Review, Inc. has supported dental professionals with regulatory compliance resources, infection control guidance, continuing education, sterilizer monitoring, surface disinfectant products, and dosimetry monitoring services. For more information, visit oshareview.com or call 800-555-6248.

This post is part of the Dental Bytes eNewsletter 2026 series. Visit the hub to access all monthly updates.

OSHA Review

Morgan Lawson is the Chief Operations Officer and Managing Editor at OSHA Review, Inc., where he has led dental compliance education and operations since 1999. With over 25 years of experience in OSHA regulations, infection control standards, and dental practice compliance, Morgan oversees the development of content, training programs, and compliance resources trusted by dental practices nationwide.